


Sugar

by WolfyWordWeaver



Series: Sugar [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Infidelity, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Slice of Life, Smut, Sugar Daddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:40:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22588813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfyWordWeaver/pseuds/WolfyWordWeaver
Summary: Remus Lupin has lived a very plain and boring life but one rainy afternoon a glance at a young man with grey eyes changes everything for him.
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Sugar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663156
Comments: 13
Kudos: 44





	Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure that it's very clear in the story but most all of the characters are American and they live in California. Remus is British.

Remus Lupin was not the sort of man to have have an exciting life. His wife, Nymphadora, was. Even his boisterous 4-year-old son was. He, on the other hand, was a tired old man, not even 40 years old yet but with the shuffle and greying hair of someone decades older. It was a side effect of his rather mundane job of technical writing and online tutoring. With a head full of trivia and information on the vasts worlds of the fantasy and sci-fi novels that he liked to read, Nymphadora had assured him that he was pleasant and amusing company, but years of experience made Remus sure that he was just an odd duck. He still wasn't entirely sure what his wife saw in him and was still dealing with the shock that they had actually (and accidentally) produced a child. 

Teddy was the light of Remus' life, but it was painfully obvious that he mostly took after his mother. Even though he was the spitting image of his father, he had the bold and confident temperament that Nymphadora had with enough quirkiness to be his own person. He always felt woefully inadequate when Teddy would bound over and ask him about going on camping trips or wanting to hear about his uneventful childhood. With her shocking pink hair and pierced eyebrow, Nymphadora could regale them with tales of her roadtripping across the country to follow a band's summer tour, or that time she got expelled from private school for streaking across the field during a home game. Remus had never even had a sleepover as a child. He had been the perfectly complacent child, going to school, studying, and staying out of trouble. 

When Teddy got sent home early from daycare for saying the word "fuck" he was rewarded with a cake from a laughing Nymphadora and an indulgently smiling Remus. As the father he tried to give the boy a lecture about polite language, but it died on his lips as he saw the sparkling eyes and wide grin. This boy was already learning to live life to the fullest and on his own terms and who was he, Mr. Stodgy Old Swot, to stifle that?

Maybe it was the realization that he had never done anything remotely exciting in his life that lead him to this current predicament? Or maybe it was the way that he hated feeling so out of place in his own family? Maybe it was his compassionate spirit and desire to help others? Maybe it was how those grey eyes had shaken him loose from his dreary daily routine?

Regardless, Remus found himself in the unfamiliar position of being in bed with a young stranger at a seedy motel and uttering the most ridiculous words known to mankind.

"Do you...would you be interested in having a Sugar D-daddy?"

The boy, _Sirius_ , opened his eyes in surprise and rolled over to examine the fidgeting older man. Remus felt the hot blush spread across his cheeks and down his neck. Wasn't that something done by ridiculously rich and pompous business men? Not financially savvy, budget-conscious, technical writers. With Nymphadora working at her father's successful private eye firm they lived a comfortably modest lifestyle and usually threw their extra money towards an annual summer trip with the rest going towards retirement or Teddy's college fund. Practical and boring. 

"I m-mean, you don't have to...it's not...I, uh, don't want you to think...hell, I'm just-"

"Do you mean it?" Sirius cut him off with an oddly contemplative look in his eye. 

Blushing, Remus nodded. There was a bonus coming in from his contribution to a textbook with another paycheck from some ghostwriting that he hadn't told his wife about yet. He could easily set up another bank account and deposit that money there so that she would never know. If he kept up with ghostwriting and put forth more effort towards that, Remus was sure that he could afford paying for the lifestyle of a young bachelor.

"I mean, I can't afford to lavish you with limousines or anything, but it would be enough for an apartment and monthly expenses. Food and utilities. Things like that."

"Would you want me to be on call?" he asked softly and Remus felt like his blush was sure to be turning purple by now with all the blood in his face.

"N-no! Nothing like that."

"How would I pay you back? Aren't Sugar Daddy relationships transactional?"

He put a soft hand on Remus' still-naked thigh and the older man swallowed thickly.

"I...well, I would like to see you again, er, but only if you want. When you want." He took a deep breath and focused on his attention to his knobby knees. "I'd just like to know that you're okay, that you wouldn't be in danger and that you wouldn't have to do anything that you didn't want to."

His mind quickly flashed to earlier that day.

_Walking briskly down the sidewalk towards a nearby pub for lunch, Remus had been shocked to hear the sounds of scuffling and cursing from the darkened alley. Rain was coming down in sheets and worried that a homeless person was drunk and hurt he paused and took a step toward the darkness only to freeze at the sight of a beautiful boy on his knees getting face-fucked by a rather eager and vocal fellow. Moist grey eyes had opened and looked right into his own wide ones and he felt his breath catch._

"I don't need your pity," Sirius sighed as he leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes. "I'll be fine."

Feeling an uncomfortable sense of panic, Remus pressed. "Um, please?"

This brought a sudden chortle from the young man as he opened one eye. "Really? 'Please?' You're cute."

Feeling more bravado than he'd had in his entire life, Remus leaned over the boy and pressed a tender kiss to those lips. "I mean it, Sirius. I'd like to see you again. Not just for s-sex. We don't even have to do this again if you don't want. Not that it was bad! It was great, amazing! I just...don't want you to think poorly of me." He blushed again and rested his burning face against the boy's cheek. "I really like you," he whispered, surprising himself. "And I want to help."

Teeth nibbled at his earlobe and Remus exhaled a stuttered breath as he felt himself grown inexplicably hard again. He'd never been able to get hard twice in one night in his life!

"Maybe till I get on my feet," Sirius whispered against his ear before dragging a sinful tongue against the salty skin.

"W-whatever you want," Remus responded breathily before their lips were once again pressed against each other.

A quick text to Nymphadora letting her know that he would be at the office all night and Remus was able to turn his full attention back to worshipping the younger man.

**

After an anxiety-inducing episode of missed buses and an almost missed lunch date, Remus' first order of business had been to purchase Sirius a phone. The boy, 18 years old he had learned, was shocked when Remus insisted that he get a newer model smart phone. 

"It comes with rebates," Remus insisted, but he was secretly pleased to give the kid something that was considered normal by his young and hip peer-group. "It'll be easier for you to keep up with all that YouTubes and Snapper Chatting things with that, I think."

"I don't really need to," Sirius tried, but Remus waved him off.

"Really, it's fine. It's actually more expensive to try to get one of these basic phones anyway. I don't know why it's that way, but it doesn't matter."

With that taken care of they next went to the bank to add Sirius to the bank account that Remus had set up specifically for him. The banker rose a questioning eyebrow at the request, but Sirius easily mentioned that his Uncle Remus was so kind to be helping him out since he just moved into town. Paperwork was signed, IDs copied, and a letter was to be issued to the hotel room Sirius was shacking up in until he found an apartment. Afterwards Remus found himself easily giving into those teasing winks and flirty smiles and they spent the rest of the afternoon making love in the hotel room and ordering in a late dinner from a pizza joint just down the street. 

Thinking that he couldn't get away with another late night, he ended up pressing sweet kisses to those pouty lips before making his way back home. After all that, it was a strange thing for him to see Nyphadora in all her colorful glory as he stepped into the house. She and Teddy were dancing in the kitchen in their pajamas to _The Best of ABBA_ , not pausing even when they noticed him coming in. He waved shyly to them before making his way to get showered and dressed for bed. 

"Did you have a good day at work?" she whispered against his neck as they cuddled under the sheets together. His laptop sat in it's case, mostly untouched that day.

"Yes. You?"

"Mmmhmm." She took a deep breath and for a brief moment Remus wondered if she could smell Sirius on him, even through the body wash and shampoo. "Teddy wants to go on a roadtrip this weekend. You game?"

"Where did you have in mind?"

"A beach. I think my Mom and Dad would be interested in coming too."

"I'll think about it. You can still go even if I decide not to."

She nipped at his ear, the same one that Sirius favored. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, Remus. I know that you're from Britain, but it doesn't mean you have to avoid fun on principal." Her voice was teasing, but he wondered how often she felt that way around him. 

"I'll think about it, Nymphadora." She had given up on him ever calling her just Tonks. It sounded too informal to him and his parents had done a good job of drilling formality into him.

**

"I got an Instagram account!" Sirius stated proudly as Remus placed a box of take-out food on the freshly cleaned counter. 

"What's an Instagram?" he asked, grinning shyly at how excited Sirius was. 

They had found a modest studio apartment that had been converted from an old detached garage belonging to an elderly woman needing help with her house payment. Minerva McGonnegal had seemed pretty stern, but she quickly connected with Sirius and soon he was living comfortably there. She had once been a teacher and principal, but after a car accident she had developed mobility issues. With the loss of her job, finances had gotten tight. 

"It's an app for my phone where I can post pictures and messages," he explained primly before leaning forward and showing Remus. "Look, I put up a picture of Minerva's cat."

It was a well framed shot and Remus grinned a little wider. "Padfoot? Is that your name on Instagram?"

Sirius nodded excitedly. "Yeah, I got that name from my little brother because I was the best at sneaking around the house and stealing snacks."

"Oh, I didn't know that you have a brother." Immediately Sirius' face fell and Remus felt his stomach clench uncomfortably. "Er, sorry."

"It's okay," he mumbled. "I brought it up in the first place."

They stood quietly at the counter for a minute before Remus reached out and tucked some hair behind his ear. "Do you have anymore pictures up? On Instagram?"

This perked the younger boy up again and Remus felt relieved. Nymphadora rarely ever got into a dark mood and he had never successfully helped her out of them. "Can I put on a picture of us? I mean, I won't put your full face up or anything."

Remus considered the odds of Sirius' circle of internet friends ever running into his social circles and decided that it was probably safe. "Sure," he responded with a shrug.

The smile he was rewarded with nearly made him light headed. Bloody hell, in that moment he would have agreed to a fully nude photo if that's what Sirius wanted. "Awesome!" They took a somewhat awkward selfie that cut off the tops of their heads and Sirius happily typed away on his device before posting. "Sugar Daddy and I getting settled in," he read out making Remus laugh. 

"Do you want dinner now?"

"You spoil me," Sirius sighed happily as he opened his box of fajitas.

"I like to," Remus responded quickly, amazed at how easy it was for him to say that. "I'm going to have to head out here in a minute, but let me know if you end up ordering any furniture and need me to pick it up for you."

"You don't want to break in the bed with me?" Sirius teased.

"I'd love to," Remus chuckled, "but I need to make it to dinner with the wife and kid. Maybe we can break it in properly tomorrow? I'll work from here if you'd like." It was a nice benefit of his remote work.

"I'd love it!" Sirius' eyes were practically glowing in delight.

"Okay, one kiss and then I'm off." Sirius wrapped his arms around the taller man's shoulders and made that one kiss count. Remus moaned into it, amazed at how anyone could make swapping saliva such an arousing event. His hands groped at the boy's pert arse before he finally forced himself to pull away. "Tomorrow," he chuckled nervously knowing that he was in the danger zone of skipping out on dinner and spending the night here instead.

Sirius pouted before nodding. "Okay, I'll be here."

They shared one more kiss, a chaste one this time, and then Remus was driving off to be with his family. Teddy was excitedly sharing a story about daycare while Nymphadora served out the stir-fry, a staple in her cooking repertoire. He smiled kindly and kissed her in greeting before kissing the top of Teddy's head.

"Did you have Mexican for lunch?" she teased him and he startled realizing that she could taste Sirius on him.

"Um, yes. Sorry."

She tilted her head in cute confusion. "Sorry for what?"

He turned pink. "I...didn't brush after lunch."

Teddy looked up at him. "I never brush after lunch, Daddy. Am I supposed to?"

Nyphadora laughed and shook her head. "It's okay, Teddy. After breakfast and dinner is fine. Daddy's just being a bit weird."

**

Remus trailed fingers down his wife's sweaty side, before fondly running them across her lower abdomen where the stretch marks shimmered beautifully in the dim light. "Do you still like me?" he whispered, barely loud enough to be heard above her panting breath.

"That's a funny thing to ask just after we've had sex," she laughed and he shrugged helplessly. "Yes, I still like you, silly man."

"I still like you too," he muttered, continuing to trail fingers across her cooling body. There weren't many similarities between her and Sirius and he enjoyed the contrasts.

Her smile faded a little and she reached out to stroke his sweaty brow. "Are you feeling okay? I know that it's coming up soon."

It. The anniversary of his mother's death.

"I'm...I don't know." He sighed softly. "There's a lot on my mind right now."

"That's okay," she comforted with a kiss to his lips. "You can always talk to me if you want to."

He nodded but knew that he wouldn't. Nymphadora had a lifelong habit of telling her mother everything and it had gotten a bit uncomfortable for him early on in their marriage. Granted, they had only been married for six years, but that was long enough to realize that anything he shared with her was shared with her immediate family. He didn't begrudge her that and knew that she had never done it to be hurtful, it was just how she was. 

"Do you want to go see a show with Teddy this weekend?" he asked quietly. "I mean, all of us together. Watching together."

She lit up happily. "Yeah, that'd be great! He's been wanting to see that new Disney movie."

"Okay, great."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek before rolling off the bed to go to the bathroom. He rolled to his back and sighed thoughtfully. It was true, he still like her. She was bright and fun and sweet to him. She mothered his child and never complained about his age or work. There was ten years between them and her father hadn't been too thrilled with his lack of corporate experience or work. He had been freelancing since he was in uni, and being British hadn't endeared him to the family either. They had been fairly shocked when Nymphadora had first introduced them all as he was nothing like all her other boyfriends. After that awkward meeting he had asked her why she had wanted to date him at all.

"I wanted to settle down," she had responded happily.

And settle they did. House payment, a child, long hours at work, and one family vacation a year. Biting his lip as he stared at the closed bathroom door, he wondered what Sirius would say if he asked the same question.

**

"What's on your mind?" Sirius asked as he rubbed Remus' calves. They were in the middle of undressing for an afternoon "flourish" and he had noticed the somber mood the older man couldn't shake off.

"It's nothing."

Pulling off a sock and rubbing the exposed foot, Sirius tilted his head and smiled softly. "You can tell me."

His heart melted a bit. "I just didn't want to be morbid right now. It's the anniversary of my mother's death."

Eyes widening, Sirius moved up over his body to kiss the corner of his lips. "I'm sorry, Remus. Fuck, you probably didn't need to hear me bitching about that asshole in the grocery store all morning long."

Remus laughed softly. "No, it's okay. He was being an arse to you. Your rant was justifiable."

"I didn't mean to be insensitive," he murmured against Remus' lips.

"You weren't. You didn't know. And it's okay, anyway; it was almost 20 years ago."

Sirius looked thoughtful. "It's normal to miss your mother, isn't it?"

"Yeah. She was pretty great." Pausing for a few seconds he pulled back to look at those pools of silver. "Do you...miss your mother?"

The eyes darkened as he expected them too, but Sirius didn't turn away. "No," he stated firmly. "I don't miss that bitch at all."

"I'm sorry, love," he muttered, pulling the boy down into another kiss. 

"Don't be," Sirius huffed with a toss of his head before grinning down wickedly. "Want to try something new?"

A spark of nervousness lit up in his stomach but he nodded. "Okay."

Sirius peeled Remus' underpants off and tossed them carelessly over his shoulder before leaning over and eagerly swallowing down the half-soft prick. Remus gasped in surprise and then moaned loudly as Sirius did quick work of getting him achingly hard. His legs were pushed up to his shoulders with firm hands before that heated mouth pulled off and that tongue dragged down the underside of his throbbing cock and down over his scrotum before the sack was enveloped in that moist heat too. He enjoyed the careful ministrations and quivered as Sirius pulled off before dragging his tongue along the perineum. By this point, Remus was tossing his head and clenching at the headboard for dear life. He saw the dark-haired boy give him a wink before he dipped his head down again and Remus was seeing stars with each swipe of the talented tongue. A hand pulled away from pinning his legs at his chest and soon fingers were working with the tongue to tease past clenching muscles until he was gaping and prepared.

He was practically sobbing in pleasure when Sirius finally pulled away. "Can I?" Sirius asked and received an eager nod in response. "You're so fucking hot," Sirius moaned as he wrapped an arm around Remus' waist and used his other hand to steady himself before he thrusted in to the hilt. They both moaned deeply and Remus felt tears prick at his eyes from the completely foreign feeling of fullness. 

"Bloody hell," he gasped, wrapping arms around Sirius' shoulders.

"L-let me know when I can m-move."

Remus squirmed a little bit to get a better angle and then nodded. "S-slowly, okay?"

It didn't take long for the headboard to be banging harshly against the wall and Remus to be crying in the pleasure of release. Sirius choked back a keen as he tossed his head and gave into his own throbbing release. Remus gasped for breath as he watched the orgasm's effects across the young man's face and he thought that he had never seen anything more beautiful. He gathered the trembling figure in his arms and they caught their breath in a dazed and comfortable silence. 

"Was that okay?" Sirius murmured against the sweaty skin before he nipped softly, careful not to leave a mark.

"It was brilliant, Sirius," Remus chuckled, loving the pink blush that he got a peek of before Sirius buried his face against Remus' chest. "It was my first time, you know, but I already look forward to the next time."

"You're so embarrassing," Sirius mumbled from his position tucked into Remus. "And so perfect. Bloody perfect."

"That sounds funny in your Valley accent," Remus yawned, stretching out to relieve a bit of the soreness in his back. "Hey, I have a question for you."

"Mmm?"

"Why did you agree to continue...this? Besides the money, I mean."

At this Sirius looked up and gave Remus a shy smile. "Because I like you, Remus. I...I really like you."

Remus felt like he was a schoolboy getting asked out for the first time. "I really like you too, love."

**

Autumn turned to winter and Christmas came and went. Remus felt a strange sense of completeness and continued to juggle what he considered his two families. He took Nymphadora and Teddy out more often and even loosened up enough to join in on a family dance party or two. For New Year's Eve he decided to spend the night with Sirius as a gift in addition to the pair of heels he knew that Sirius had been eyeballing for months. They were a definite splurge on his income, but he had been so grateful that Sirius hadn't once complained about all the time he spent with Nymphadora and Teddy and he wanted to spoil the boy. 

Sirius was bouncing in his seat like an excited child as he carefully tugged at the poorly wrapped present. "You didn't have to get me anything," he stated as he worked the tape loose. "Really, I mean it."

Remus couldn't keep the wide smile off his face. "I know. I hope you like them."

As soon as the plain brown paper was off the top of the box, Sirius froze and his mouth dropped open. He gaped for a minute and stared up at Remus. "You didn't," he whispered.

"Open the box," Remus laughed with a shrug. 

Sirius couldn't help squealing in anticipation as he forewent all caution and tore into the box only to hold up the black pumps as if they were precious idols. "Christian Louboutin pumps!!!!" he cried. "H-how did you know?!" 

The boy was practically crying and Remus felt pretty pleased with himself. He wasn't a good gift-giver most of the time and he got a thrill from seeing the emotional response. "I see you looking at those shoes all the time when you're browsing," he explained. "Put them on and let's see if they fit. I did my best to guess your size."

Sirius scrambled to comply and was almost besides himself as he strutted around his apartment in them. "They're perfect," he breathed, before launching himself into Remus' open arms and smothering him with kisses.

"I'm glad," Remus responded before catching those lips with his. "You make them look good."

This brought a bright blush to the boy's cheeks. "I didn't know if you'd be okay with this."

"Hmm?"

"Um, the lady shoes. Or, like, me wearing girl stuff."

Another shrug. "I don't care. Whatever you like, Sirius."

"You're so fucking perfect," Sirius sighed dreamily before pressing another kiss to the smiling lips. "Here, open my present." He reached over to the desk and pulled a box out from one of the drawers. "It's not as great as your present, but I hope you like it."

"Thanks, love," Remus replied feeling pleasantly warm. He peeled off the paper easily and pulled out a chunky sweater that felt luxuriously squishy between his fingers. Sighing happily as he ran his hands over the material he noted that there wasn't a tag on the garment. "Where did you get this, love? It's so soft."

Sirius grinned sheepishly and stared at his new pumps. "Um, I made it."

"What?!" he gasped in shock, staring at the beautiful sweater again. "How did you?"

This time he laughed cheerily, the flush on his cheeks a rouge. "YouTube mainly. Like, I looked up how to knit and shit. Took me forever to figure it out, but I wanted to make something special for you."

Bringing it up to his nose, Remus breathed in deeply and could smell Sirius all over it. The garment must have taken _hours_ to make and he didn't even know how much the material for it went these days. He rubbed his face against the softness and sighed again.

"It's perfect," he stated happily.

"Um, I've also got another present for you, but it's more something that I wanted to share with you."

"What's that?" he asked, still dazed.

Sirius smiled widely and bounced a little on his feet, keeping impressively balanced with those tall thin heels. "I'm starting school."

"Congratulations!" Remus gasped. He had known that Sirius had been perusing through different college websites and degree descriptions but he hadn't realized that the boy had made a decision.

"Yeah, I'm going to start in a couple of weeks." He brushed some hair behind his ear self-consciously. "I wanted to go into nursing. I started watching Minnie part time a couple of months ago to keep myself busy and so that I could build up my savings a little more and I really love it. I want to help others."

"I'm so proud of you, love," Remus proclaimed excitedly, opening his arms for a hug which Sirius happily jumped into. "You're so bloody amazing. Just let me know if you need some more money to help cover costs, okay?"

Sirius leaned back, a toothy grin exposed. "I got a scholarship to the local college and it covers everything except books. My savings will cover that."

Feeling a strange and overwhelming emotion, Remus leaned forward and hungrily kissed the boy in his arms, loving all the little gasps and moans as his hands shamelessly explored. "Love, take this all off," he murmured against those lips. Hazel eyes watched greedily as Sirius stumbled out of his arms to comply hastily. "Keep the heels."

The pale vision standing before him in nothing but heels practically made his blood boil in lust. Wordlessly he slipped the sweater over those shoulders and the picture was complete. He had Sirius bent over the desk and screaming his name in ecstasy in no time and Remus didn't even notice the crossing over into the new year, the sounds of the cheers from the television a muted buzz compared to the body he enthusiastically made love to.

**

Remus snorted in amusement as he saw Sirius' latest selfie on Instagram. He was showing off his newest shade of red lipstick with a pout and a "v" sign while his classmate James Potter was grimacing behind him in an intentional photobomb. They were adorable. He clicked the "like" button, thankful that he had finally succumbed to temptation and created an account for the sole purpose of virtually stalking his lover. It was definitely more private to chat over and send pictures to each other and since he shut off the notifications there was never an oops notification for Nymphadora to see. He also wasn't too keen on poor Teddy accidentally seeing a dick picture while he played with Daddy's phone so he had the app in the hidden folder Sirius showed him to keep his son from getting into it accidentally.

He hastily exited the app as the door unlocked and tucked the phone into his pocket as Nymphadora walked into the house. The expected patter of little feet didn't follow behind her and took him a few seconds to register that Teddy wasn't with her. 

"Where's Teddy?" he asked in confusion. She always brought him home.

"Mom picked him up today," she stated easily.

"Why?" He couldn't think of any grandparent time they had planned recently.

She sat in the sofa chair across from him with a soft smile. "I wanted to talk to you privately, Remus."

"Are you pregnant?!" he gasped, feeling the blood drain from his face.

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "Remus, you're so ridiculous sometimes."

"Well, what then?" He took a couple of deep breaths to try to control his racing heart. Remus absolutely adored his son but he wasn't sure that he could handle another child.

Nymphadora stared at him for a few minutes, a curious expression on her face. "Do you remember how my mother got disowned by her parents back when she ran off with my dad?"

Now he was even more confused. "Um, yes?"

"Do you remember the family name she came from?"

Quirking his mouth and looking up to try to sift through the trivia he kept mentally filed away he finally shook his head softly. They hadn't really talked about it much and the last time was before Teddy was even born. "Sorry, I don't."

"She came from the Black family."

He stared at her blankly, not really understanding what that had to do with anything. "Okay."

She continued watching him carefully as if he was supposed to somehow know what she was thinking. When it became clear that he was still clueless, she pressed on. "My mother's family used to be pretty large but they had been thinning out a lot in the last couple of generations. In fact, by the time she was disowned there weren't any male heirs to carry on the family name. Just her and her sisters."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure that I understand," Remus tried, but she put her hand up and he shut his mouth. This was obviously something important.

"Last week my mom was contacted by her sister nearly 30 years after they last spoke, and her sister asked her if she had been in contact with a male cousin. Apparently, she has two male cousins, both of them younger than even me. She had no clue of course, but they were insistent. The youngest boy, barely 17 years old had just run away and they were certain that he was with his older brother who had already been disowned from the family."

"Sounds like an awful lot of disowning," Remus muttered and Nymphadora cracked a smile.

"Yeah, they come from very traditional values and are strict in what they allow in the family. Anyway, after my mom convinced them that she hadn't seen or heard from either of the boys she asked me to do a little researching to see if I could pull anything up. She didn't want to bother Dad with an official investigation or anything, and since I had some extra time between my administrative duties I decided to do it for her."

"Did you find them?"

"I found the oldest son. Still nothing from the younger one yet, but I'm sure that he'll come up when I contact his brother."

"That's good," he muttered stupidly. "Isn't it? I mean, that's what you wanted, right?"

Remus got the feeling that she was disappointed and he felt a knot in his stomach. What was he missing?

"You know what, Remus? I never thought you were a good liar. I mean, even when we play card games you're absolute shit at hiding what's in your hand. I guess that's why I was surprised that you had managed it for so long. But hell, you didn't even bother to learn his last name?" At that Remus lost all the color in his face and felt very much like losing his lunch. She nodded, finally glad that he got the hint. "Padfoot has got quite the boner for you. Or should I say, Sirius Black."

The sudden rush of blood racing back into his face for a blush made him feel dizzy. He knew what pictures Sirius had put up on his account and while it had never been anything explicit, it had been obvious enough. Their legs entwined. Remus' bare back. Their lips smashed together. Sirius with only the blanket covering his lower half while Remus had been asleep behind him, face away from the camera. Comments about how big a dick his Sugar Daddy had. Extolling the virtues of their filthy sex under a selfie of his beautifully mussed bedhead.

"Bloody hell," he groaned as he dropped his head into his hands. 

"Indeed," Nymphadora laughed tightly. "I mean, it's not like I was a complete idiot. I _did_ notice the extra nights away and the times you'd come home with hair wet from a shower. I could always explain it away in my head. What I had a harder time explaining away was a whole separate bank account that you so kindly remembered to account for in our shared taxes. Hell, Remus, if you were trying to pretty slick about pulling one over on me you weren't doing a very good job."

He didn't know what she expected him to say. Remus had never been a good liar or even particularly creative about breaking the rules. It was one of the biggest reasons his parents had such a complacent child. After a while he just quit trying to get away with anything because it had never worked.

"I..." Words failed him.

"What I didn't expect," she continued, pulling her legs up into the seat with her, "was for it to be with a man. And such a young one at that. You never ever hinted at swinging that way and you sure as hell never asked me to try anal." Remus burned even hotter in shame. "Did you think that I wouldn't try different things? Is that why? How did you even meet?"

She paused and it quickly became clear that she expected an answer. Not that he wanted to give her one, but it was what she deserved.

"At a pub. He was..." Sucking off a man in an alley for money. "He, uh, the owner didn't want to give him lunch..." Because he still had cum in his hair and bruised lips. "...and I kind of helped him get food..." By getting his food to go and convincing Sirius to eat with him under the awning. Then Sirius talked him into a hotel room and he wanted more than anything to have those lips on himself.

Her brown eyes revealed that she knew he was leaving a lot out. "Is lunch all it takes for you to decide to be a Sugar Daddy?"

With Sirius, yes.

"Its...I wanted him to be okay."

They sat quietly for a few minutes before she spoke up again.

"Remus, it's such a ridiculous situation that I don't really know how to feel. You've been a good husband and father, never making waves or acting like you were unhappy. As long as I've known you, you've been about as vanilla as a person could be, but when I saw all those pictures and read those captions I was left to wonder if I knew you at all."

"I hadn't known either," he muttered, thinking of that dark hair sliding between his fingers and those sharp lips curling into a mischievous grin. "Not until I met him."

"What's even more ridiculous than you carrying on an at least six month affair is the fact that in that time you've managed to become an even better father and husband." He dared to look up at these words and took in her still neutral facial expression. "You've stopped always standing on the sidelines and actually started engaging with us. You've danced in the kitchen to our choreography, you've finger painted with your son, and you've gone on more outings with us in the last six months than you have in the last six years." There were tears in her eyes now. "And I don't know if you've only been doing that out of guilt."

"No!" he cried in horror. "Nymphadora, not at all! I've always _wanted_ to be more for you two, to be the person who could push his self-depreciation away enough to let loose around you. You and and Teddy are so confident and colorful, and I'm just...me."

"Then why now?" she pushed almost angrily. "Why couldn't you do it before?"

It wasn't an easy question and he wasn't sure that he had a good answer. "I don't know, Nymphadora," he sighed. "Sirius...I don't know how he does it, but he always seems to bring out the best in me and it just kind of spills to everywhere else in my life. I've never written so much content in all my years of freelancing and that's even with all the time I spend with you all."

There was another pause in their conversation and Nymphadora dabbed at her eyes to keep the tears from running down her cheeks. 

"Does he have Regulus with him?"

"Uh, his brother? I don't know. I haven't seen him in almost two weeks. He hasn't said anything."

She sighed heavily. "Find out. If he's got his brother or knows about his whereabouts he has to give him up. Regulus is still underage and his parents are desperate to have him back. If they haven't already hired their own investigators then they will soon. I'd rather not have our family dragged into a legal mess. Teddy doesn't deserve that."

"Neither do you," Remus muttered miserably and Nymphadora snorted in a mix of amusement and annoyance. 

"So what are you going to do about it? Sirius, I mean. If I asked you to never see him again, could you promise that to me?"

Panic filled his heart at those words, at the thought of never holding that body against his own ever again.

"Please don't ask that of me," he whispered. "Please."

The tension between them grew taut. 

"Well, Remus? What are we going to do?"

Swallowing thickly, Remus wished that he knew. 


End file.
